


Her Gift

by finnsdvd



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, First Relationship, First Time, Harry Potter - Freeform, Hogwarts, Horcrux Hunting, M/M, Marauders, Wands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29946411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finnsdvd/pseuds/finnsdvd
Summary: Content warning: Mentions of violence/small mentions of blood
Relationships: Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 2





	Her Gift

Saturday, 13th July 1991

 **_Boom!_ **A flash of green light flashed in her mind. The same flash of bright green light that 10-year old Elaina Adley always saw before waking up. No matter what she dreamed about if she’d even dreamt at all. She felt herself being shaken by something as she began to come to. She groaned and shifted in her spot on the uncomfortable cot. She was having the greatest dream about being with this woman, almost like a motherly figure. Elaina could never remember what she looked like, but she knew the woman was quite young from the sound of her voice. They were playing games together outside of this gigantic castle, it felt so real that it was almost frightening.

The first thing Elaina spotted as her eyes adjusted to the light was her two peers standing next to her bed, looking around the old, dusty attic nervously where she slept all by herself. Waiting for Elaina to finally rise from slumber. "Get up. My Mum told us to come in here and wake you." said the one called Harper in a disgruntled manner. Harper was a rather nice-looking girl with a pie-shaped face, blonde hair, and brown eyes.

"Hurry up, before we all get into trouble!" said the other girl whose name was Vivian, she had black hair and dark brown eyes as well.

Elaina let out a sleepy grunt before pulling herself upright, watching the other girls scurry to the ladder to leave. She hopped off of her concrete-like mattress and set off to the bathroom and observed herself in the mirror. Elaina was a small girl, not just in height, but in weight as well. She had dark brown hair and pale skin. She allowed her pale blue eyes to flicker over herself as she dressed quickly before setting off down four more flights of stairs where the rest of the girls were, who upon seeing her moved away or simply ignored the girl. 

This was normal for her, Elaina had never really minded that none of the girls was interested in talking to her as the feeling was quite mutual. She'd never had many friends, but from time to time she does feel like she’s missing out on that experience, especially because their caretaker insisted that she stayed home and did her schooling, even going as far as getting her a tutor to teach her lessons in the common area while the other girls were away. That would be no more as Elaina would be starting her first year at a new Secondary school.

A lot of people tended to stay clear of Elaina’s path because whenever she was around Peculiar things happened. However, Elaina never knew why things like that always occurred; she just assumed it was bad timing or as Harper would tell her, bad luck.

Elaina, being the last girl to come down, grabbed whatever was left for breakfast, which was eggs, and a piece of toast, with marmalade, spread on top, from the kitchens before retreating to the window in the common room like area. All of the girls (except Elaina) chatted loudly until the governess, Mrs Harrison showed up to make sure each of the girls was downstairs and present. "Is everyone down here?" she asked and quickly, everyone fell silent. Mrs Harrison was an intimidating-looking woman. She was tall and a little bit pudgy. She had the same face as Harper, it was just as cold and pie-shaped, but her hair was dark brown. 

The room finally came to complete silence. "You are free to walk about the building and even go outside and walk. If I hear of problems the person who caused them will be punished." the older woman said darkly

All the girls looked back at Elaina who was simply staring out of the window while eating her small breakfast. "And of course, you must be back here by 5 pm, sharp." Mrs Harrison added sternly before turning on her heel and leaving the girls alone.

Elaina finished up her breakfast, she got up from the window and walked to the front door, deciding it would be nice to go on a walk. _Yes, a nice getaway from...here_ she thought. Elaina opened up the door taking in the dewy scent of the morning grass. She walked passing by families laughing and talking together. She walked past stores taking glances at the items through the glass. Elaina walked up until she got to the local park which was a 10-minute walk from where she resided. She sat down on a bench in front of a small pond where a duck and its chicks were swimming around, cooling themselves off in the hot summer air.

Elaina reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag with squashed bread on the inside. She didn't care that the bread was squashed because, in her mind, the ducks liked it that way. She opened up the bag and picked pieces off of the bread, throwing them at the ducks. She smiled as they came out of the pond and waddled onto land where they picked at the pieces of bread.

The ducks were the closest thing that Elaina had to friends. The other girls thought it was strange that she talked to the ducks, but who else was she to converse with? No one wanted to talk to her unless it was to ridicule her. "I've had quite a rough week," she said to the ducks as they pecked the bread from the ground with their beaks. One of the ducklings looked up at her and quacked, but since it was so little, it came out as more of a squeak.

"I've watched at least 3 girls be taken home this week. Of course, I only saw them leaving from my window," she mumbled, "but, I wish someone would come around and just..take me home." Her already small voice cracking. Her heart had always ached at the fact that she didn't know her parents. She doesn't know where she comes from. She's never known a family or real love. It's quite depressing when you think about it. She always stays up late at night wondering what it would be like if things were different. If her parents hadn’t died all those years ago. If she was truly happy.

She shook her thoughts of the subject and went onto more pressing matters, "Harper had tried to stick gum in my hair." she sighed, her lips forming a small smile from the memory. "I don't know what happened, or why, but a heavy book fell on her head. I think she deserved it too. A big fat book falling on her big fat face." said Elaina who now felt her anger rising at the mere thought of Harper’s constant bullying.

She threw more bread at the ducks who quaked in satisfaction. She chuckled at them, feeling like they were the only ones she could truly talk to even if they were just ducks. "What is it that we have here? Elaina talking to ducks? and just when we thought you couldn't be more strange. Also, what's that about my face?" the voice of Harper booming over and destroying the calm of the park. She and her gang of idiotic girls came closer to Elaina, who's smile faltered.

"Piss off," grumbled Elaina trying to keep her attention on the ducks

"Why would I? It's not like you've got any place to be or anyone to meet, nobody likes you." Ella shrugged

"I'd much rather be alone than have to deal with the likes of you, so go away before I punch your face," Elaina said through gritted teeth she didn’t mean for it to come out like that, but she was tired of feeling angry. Her nostrils flared as her anger boiled up inside of her, itching to explode.

Harper gave Elaina quite a nasty look, "As we'd ever want to waste our time with you anyways. You ruin everything, you ruin every single thing you touch." said Harper only provoking Elaina even more.

Elaina knew she was referring to the odd things that happened around her. She also knew that statement wasn't the complete truth, but that doesn't make the comments hurt any less. She ran at Harper, swinging at the other girl’s face. Elaina had only managed to swing at Harper’s nose before she was pulled back to by two other girls who were bigger than she was. Harper shrieked and let out an irritating sob, blood dripped down from her nose and it looked a little crooked, this didn’t make Elaina too much better, but she felt like they were even now. She was tired of being pushed around and this made her feel satisfied. 

Though Elaina felt satisfied, she was still angry. The wind picked up, it became so strong and then suddenly, Harper shrieks once again and was now in the pond, the ducks residing there quacking next to her in a frenzy. Some of them even went as far as pecking at her legs. The one frog sitting on a lily pad had jumped away, trying to move as far as possible from this scene.

Her friends gasp, Vivian being the first one to run at her side and pull her out of the water. Elaina tried to hold back a smirk as Harper’s friends gazed at the scene in horror. As soon as they pulled her out of the water, the group of girls ran away from Elaina and the park. More than likely to go and tell Mrs Harrison _._

Elaina eventually got up from the park bench, stuffing the now-empty plastic baggie into her pocket. She bade the ducks farewell and then she slowly commuted back to her residence. When she arrived, she was met with a furious-looking Mrs Harrison and Harper next to her covered in a towel holding a tissue to her nose. "I said not to cause trouble and what do you do? You can't even follow simple and direct orders! Go to your room and don't come out until you're instructed or you'll face harsher punishments!" she yelled at the girl

Elaina looked at Harper and scowled before stomping up four flights of stairs and ladder to her room. There wasn't much Elaina could do in her attic. She didn't own much except for her clothes and maybe one book. She flopped down onto her bed, grabbing her pillow and pulling it to her face so her screaming would be muffled. Not even noticing that the lights flickered on and off.

She removed the pillow, threw it to the ground, and then stamped on it to try and release her anger, but it wasn’t working. At times like these, Elaina so desperately wished she had some sort of clock to tell her what time it was. The only way she could tell the time was by watching the sun and the moon and it'd looked to be around almost five pm. She threw herself onto her bed once again and picked up her only book (that had a plot) that was on her shelf. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to read it again.

And for the rest of the night, Elaina read her book. She was given a very small dinner and then gradually fell asleep after the boredom had become too much for her. She went to sleep and dreamed about the woman and the castle once more. 

* * *

Monday, July 22nd 1991

It had been a little over 3 weeks since the initial day that Elaina had been sentenced up to her attic. Each day was just as boring as the next, she would be allowed to shower and use the bathroom and then breakfast. After hours of boredom and sitting around, she would be given dinner. Then, Elaina sat around reading her old school books or daydreaming, up until she became fatigued with sleep.

Today had finally been the day that Elaina was allowed to leave her attic. Mrs Harrison had come up and told her when she woke her up this morning. While Elaina was excited about being able to leave this ever so dull attic, she was not looking forward to seeing Harper, knowing that the encounter would be anything short of unpleasant. She decided that she would do everything in her power to avoid the dreadful girl.

The first thing she did, after showering, of course, was grab breakfast. As all of her recent meals had been fairly small, today she got a piece of toast, eggs, and two pieces of ham. Then returned to her window sill away from the other girls.

Elaina knew she wasn't going to stay long, so she crammed down her breakfast and leapt from her position at the window. She made her way to the door, pulling it open. It was only when she heard a small crumpling noise under her shoe, that she realized she'd been stepping on something. She looked down and saw a few different envelopes, all addressed to Miss Harrison of course along with one or two addressed to the girls from a distant family member. However, one stood out to her as she noticed her name on it. It was addressed to _herself_.

Elaina was shocked, she had never gotten mail, not from a friend or some distant family member, not even the mean ones from the library. But, here it was tucked into her hands. _This has to be a mistake, it has to be_ , she thought, but here this letter was addressed clearly as day to her.

_Miss E. Adley_

_The dusty old attic_

_XX XXXXXX XXXXXXX_

_BAKEWELL_

The letter was thick and heavy, it was made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. It felt warm in her hands like she was meant to have it or something.

Elaina turned the letter over and saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake. Surrounding a large letter H.

Much to Elaina’s excitement, she failed to hear the footsteps coming up behind her and before she knew it the letter had been snatched from her hands. Thinking that it was Harper, she turned around to tell her off but instead came face to face with the wretched woman who gave birth to the girl previously mentioned. Elaina almost rolled her eyes but caught herself as the woman looked at her furiously. "Going through my mail, eh?" asked Miss Harrison sharply.

"That letter is mine, it's addressed to me," said Elaina, trying her best to hold back a glare.

Miss Harrison jabbed a finger at the young girl, "We'll see about that, won't we?" she looked at the envelope, and what she saw had her vicious brown eyes popping out of their sockets.

"See, it's got my attic and everything," Elaina pointed out. She reached for her letter, but Harrison slapped her hand away.

"You will not have this. I will keep it safely in my office and get to the bottom of who's sent you this letter." the woman tucked the letter into the pocket of her skirt and walked away.

At that moment, Elaina felt as if she could kick something, anything. She turned around to hide the scowl that had now lined her face. She pulled the front door open, walked outside, and then slammed the door shut behind her.

It seemed as though the world had noticed her sour mood as the sun had gone away, being blocked by the clouds. She stomped until she got to the park. As she sat down on the grass she started contemplating whether she should just run away. _It's not like anyone would notice they might be glad I've gone,_ she thought

She heard a familiar quacking noise. Whipping her head around, she saw the ducks waddling towards her in a line. The chicks had gotten big and were almost fully grown ducks now. Elaina looked at them sadly, "I couldn't get much." she said reaching into her pocket and pulling out only a small piece of bread.

She broke it into pieces and threw it towards the pond so the ducks would go eat it. Just as the ducks waddled away, Elaina heard an unfamiliar hoot. She ignored it at first but when it came around again, she whipped her head around, and there it sat— a tawny owl perched up in a tree. Elaina found this the oddest. She'd read about owls before so she knew owls only ever appeared at night, so what would one be doing out in broad daylight and near her residence,

She couldn't ponder on the thoughts any longer, she noticed Harper and her group on the other side of the part looking for something — or rather someone.

Elaina’s fight or flight mode kicked in as she stood up from her spot on the ground and hid in the first thing she saw that was even the slightest bit bigger than her. Usually, she would stick around for Harper to see her, trade insults with her, and even get in another good punch, but considering she'd just gotten out of punishment she wanted to enjoy her time away from her attic. She thought fast and jumped into a bush and moved the limbs and leaves out of the way to get a better look, "Yes, mum said she confiscated— what was it— a letter from Elaina. I asked her if I could see it but she yelled at me to leave her office. That girl has got mum acting strange now too." said Harper as her dumb friends laughed with her.

She continued, "It doesn't matter anyway, it's probably some kind of rude note from the library. Seriously, she hasn't got any friends, who else would want to send her a letter."

Elaina didn't understand what the girls found so funny. If they were in her position, there would be no way that they would be laughing, she certainly wasn’t. They sat down on a bench that was relatively close to the bush Elaina was hiding in. There was no way she was going to be seen, she wouldn’t allow it. She knows if they saw her hiding in a bush, she’d never hear the end of it. 

* * *

_3 hours_. Elaina stayed in that bush for 3 hours, although to her it felt like an eternity. She watched as the girls finally departed, the sun was setting and the night was drawing closer. surely she'd get in trouble for being out late.

As soon as the girls were no longer in sight, Elaina jumped out of the bush. Her hair had been covered in small sticks and leaves and her clothes were dirty. She bolted out of the park, almost knocking a man over in the process. ("Blimey! Hey, watch where you're going!")

She ran past all the stores, the families, the buildings, all of that until she finally came up to the familiar brick building. She pushed open the door and her head dotted towards the clock on the wall, _4:58 pm_ was what it read. Elaina let out a sigh. She made it back with 2 minutes to spare. She was tired and her legs ached so walking up the stairs did not sound ideal, but she wanted to lay down. So as she trudged up the stairs she thought about the letter that had been sent to her, _The letter from no one_

* * * 

Sunday, July 28th 1991

For the next week and a half, a new letter would come for Elaina every day. Each with the same address as the next;

_Miss E. Adley_

_The dusty old attic_

_XX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX_

_BAKEWELL_

And each day it would be ripped away from her by Miss Harrison. She had tried everything to get her hands on one of the letters, just to peek inside. Elaina tried waking up at the crack of dawn to collect the post, she has tried to sneak into Mrs Harrison’s office, she’s even tried getting Harper to get it for her (with the promise that she could read it too). But, alas, it was no use. Mrs Harrison got up even earlier, she moved the letters from her office to her house, she even told off Harper. 

She found herself visiting the park less and less, and started focusing her attention on the upcoming school year. (even though it was about a month and a half away) This year would be her first year going to secondary school; _real school_. She was dreading it. She knew what secondary school meant, bigger kids and worse bullying.

As the days drew closer and closer to her birthday, she started to give up hope for the letters. Elaina found herself lying in her cot, staring up at the boring wooden ceiling. It was late and night and she wanted nothing more than to sleep right now just so she could escape, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was thinking about those letters. Why won't miss Harrison let her read them? Why is she receiving these letters in the first place? Who are they from? And lastly, why are they so persistent to get in contact with her? All of these questions floated around her mind, and she couldn't find a way to unravel herself from them.

It was only when Elaina had started shifting her thoughts to something else when she heard a loud thud. It made her spring straight up from her previous position. She hopped up from the bed and went straight to the circular window. She didn't see anything.

She ran over to the trap door of the attic. She got down on her knees and placed her ear against the cold wood. She heard nothing. No feet running around to check the commotion, no doors opening, no girls screaming. She didn't hear a thing. She was a little apprehensive about the situation, all the strange things that had happened never exactly amounted to this.

Elaina stood up and dusted herself off. She sighed and turned around to face her window but what she saw left her astonished. The window of her attic was growing larger and larger. It grew until it was about the size of an enormous door and then stopped.

She walked over to the window, observing how huge it was now. She knew this was completely paranormal, but she also couldn't help but be filled with curiosity as to why this was happening.

She found herself jumping back when the window opened like it was a door, presenting the great night sky. The breeze of the night gently blowing into the attic and right onto her making her cheeks tinge light pink. She tugged her shirt closer to her body hoping to take in more heat. She saw a bright light coming closer to her in the distance. It got so bright that Elaina had to turn away. The sound of an engine hissing also became quite apparent.

Elaina knew whatever this thing was coming closer to her. She glanced around her room, ran over to her bed and snatched up her book. She held it up in a defensive stance as if to whack someone with it. It was silly, but it was the only thing she'd had to fend off whatever this thing was.

She looked back at the window and saw a motorcycle in her room. It carried a man, a very large man. He was about twice the size of a regular man, his head almost swept the ceiling of the attic. His face was almost completely covered by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

Elaina let out a shriek, dropping the book onto her feet as she clapped her hands to her mouth.

"Oh, I didn't mean to frighten yeh. Don't worry, there's nothin' ter be afraid o'! I'm not gonna hurt yeh." The giant shushed

Elaina picked up the book and held it close to her. "W-who are you?" she asked more timidly than she would've liked

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper o' keys and grounds at Hogwarts. Jus call me Hagrid, ev'ryone calls me tha'."

That name sounded quite unfamiliar to Elaina. Her eyebrows furrowed together and it was displayed to Hagrid that she was a bit confused

"Hogwarts? I'd 'spect yeh know all abou' that." He said as if he was trying to jog her memory

Elaina only shook her head, she had no idea of what Hogwarts was. Elaina was less worried about the stranger in her room, or this weird made up name, but more everyone else in the building hearing him. She glanced around, she became more anxious when she saw the trap door of the attic shake. She knew someone was about to open the door.

It lifted open and Mrs Harrison peered inside, "What's going on up here?" She asked, more so demanded

Elaina didn't say or do anything. The woman's eyes wandered towards the giant man standing near the window. She let out a cry and almost fell off of the ladder, but, to Elaina’s displeasure, she caught herself before she could fall. Mrs Harrison hoisted herself up into the attic and shut the door. "D'you have anywhere tha' I can sit? I've bin on a very long journey." Asked Hagrid.

"You must leave at once!" Miss Harrison demanded, "You're trespassing onto my property!"

"Oh, quit yer whining, I've been ordered ter collect Elaina," he growled in response

Elaina looked to the man, more confused than before, "What do you mean collect me? And what is Hogwarts?" She asked him

Hagrid chuckled lightly, "Yeh, don't know wha' Hogwarts is?" he asked. When Elaina shook her head, she could tell from his beard moving down that he was frowning.

"Elaina, haven't yeh ever wondered where your parents learnt it all?" The giant asked

"All what?" The girl asked

"ALL WHAT?" The giant bellowed

The girl jumped for what seemed like the thousandth time tonight. It was obvious that Hagrid was boiling with anger, he turned to the woman standing near the trap door, "Do you mean ter tell me, that this girl — this girl! — knows nothin' abou'— about anything?"

Mrs Harrison started backing herself towards the wall. Elaina looked a little offended at the statement. She's been to school, and her marks were exceptionally good.

"I know things, lots of things. I have the highest marks in my class!" She defended

Hagrid simply waved his hand dismissively and said, "About _our_ world, I mean. _Your_ world. _My_ world. _Yer parents' world_."

Elaina glanced around the room, "What world?"

Hagrid looked as if he could've exploded right then. "YOU!" he said pointing his abnormally large fingers at Mrs Harrison

The woman turned white under Hagrid's stare and mumbled swear words to herself. The man whipped his head around in Elaina’s direction. "But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said, "I mean they're famous. _You're famous_."

"What? My— my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?" Elaina looked at Mrs Harrison who was cowering against the wall.

"Yeh don' know...yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Elaina with a bewildered stare.

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally

It seemed as if Mrs Harrison had found her voice once again. Her demeanour changed from one of fright to one of stone. "Stop!" she commanded, "I forbid you to tell her anything!"

Someone braver than Helen Harrison would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave her; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.

"You never told her? Never told her what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer her? I was there! I saw-- I saw her leave it! An' you've kept it from her all these years?"

"Kept _what_ from me?" asked Elaina eagerly

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Miss Harrison in panic

"Ah, go boil yer head." said Hagrid "Elaina, yer a witch."

There was silence inside the attic. Only the whistling from the light breeze of wind could be heard.

"Did you just say I was a— a _witch?"_ gasped Elaina. For the first time, in a long time, Elaina felt exuberant

"Yes, I did." said Hagrid, "an' a thumping' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would the be? An' I think it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

Hagrid reached inside of his giant furry coat and pulled out an envelop that looked more like a large sticker in his hand. He handed it to Elaina for her to take it. She stared at it for a few seconds, then averted her gaze up to Hagrid who pushed it forward for her to take. She grabbed it and looked at the front, it had the same address it always had, MISS E. ADLEY, THE DUSTY OLD ATTIC. She pulled out the letter and read:

——————

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Miss Adley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

_Deputy Headmistress_

———————

Questions raced in and out of Elaina’s head. They were moving so quickly, she didn't even know what questions to ask first. She walked over to her bed and sat on it. She collected her thoughts together before asking, "What does it mean, that they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart-horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl— a real, live, rather ruffled owl— a long quill, and a roll did parchment. With bud tongue between his teeth he scribbled a bit that Elaina could read upside down:

—————

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_Given Elaina her letter._

_Taking her to buy her things tomorrow. Weather's alright. Hope you're well._

_Hagrid_

_—————_

Hagrid rolled up the short note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the night. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Mrs Harrison, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, stepped away from the wall.

"She's not going," She said

Hagrid grunted, "I'd like yer see a great muggle like you try to stop her."

"A what?" asked Elaina, now full of interest to learn about this new world interested

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non-magic folk like her. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a place with the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes in."

"I swore when I let her in here that I'd put a stop to this!" Miss Harrison continued "I would squish it all out of her."

"You knew?" said Elaina, feeling herself start to boil over with anger. "You _knew_ I'm a— a witch?"

"Knew!" shrieked Miss Harrison suddenly. " _Knew_! Of course, I knew! I've known of their existence, my brother, he was one. Yes, he was just as strange as you are! Always making unexplainable things happen! And then he got that blasted letter and ran off to that stupid school to learn how to pull a bunny out of a hat! So when you were dropped off here when you were younger, with that letter, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into."

"Wait. Does this mean you know my parents?" Elaina asked

Miss Harrison threw her a look of disgust. "No. I don't know your parents. A young girl who barely looked older than 19 dropped you off here with this...man and a letter," she hesitated, "The letter said your parents passed due to unknown circumstances and then I got landed with you!"

"Unknown circumstances?" Hagrid bellowed, "Aura an' Charles Adley were murdered! It's an outrage! A scandal! Elaina not knowin' her own story when every kid in our world knows her name!" Elaina stayed silent. She thought long and hard about a girl that was 19 when she was only an infant. She didn't know anyone that could be that old other than Miss Harrison.

“But why? What happened?” Elaina asked urgently

The anger faded from Hagrid’s face. He looked suddenly anxious. “I never expected this,” he said, in a low, worried voice.“I had no idea when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble getting hold of yeh, how much yeh didn’t know. Ah, Elaina, I don’ know if I’m the right person ter tell yeh 𑁋 but someone’s gotta 𑁋 yeh can’t go off ter Hogwarts not knowin’.”

He threw a dirty look at Mrs Harrison. “Well, it’s best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh 𑁋 mind, I can’t tell yeh everythin’, it’s a great myst’ry, parts of it…”

Hagrid looked around the room, his eyes landed on Elaina’s cot. He walked over to it and sat down on it, causing one side to quail under his weight. He then said, “It begins, I suppose, with 𑁋 with a person called 𑁋 but it’s incredible yeh don’t know his name, everyone in our world knows 𑁋” 

“Who?”

“Well, 𑁋 I don’t like sayin’ the name if I can help it. No one does.”

“Why not?”

“Gulpin’ gargoyles, Elaina, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…”

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out. 

“Couldn’t you just write it down?” Elaina suggested

“Nah 𑁋 can’t spell it. All right 𑁋 _Voldemort_.” Hagrid shuddered. “Don't make me say it again. Anyway, this 𑁋 this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin’ fer followers. Got ‘em too 𑁋 some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o’ his dark power, ‘cause he was gettin’ himself power, all right. Dark days, Elaina. Didn’t know who ter trust, didn’t dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was takin’ over. ‘Course, some stood up to him 𑁋 an’ he killed ‘em. Horrible. One o’ the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore’s the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn’t dare try takin’ the school, not jus’ then, anyway.

“Now, yer mum an’ dad were as good a witch an’ wizard as I ever knew. ‘Fact, yer mum was head girl in her year after yer dad, James, and Lily potter graduated and yer dad, he was quidditch captain, a beater. Then, they were also the king and queen, yer dad was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor. Suppose the myst’ry is why You-Know-WHo never tried to get ‘em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anything ter do with the Dark Side.”

“So, let me get this straight, I’m a princess?” Elaina inquired, rather eagerly. It was refreshing to find out all of this information about her parents especially after being in the dark about them for her entire life. 

“Maybe he thought he could persuade ‘em...maybe he just wanted ‘em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up to yer castle where you and yer family resided, it was only yer first birthday.” Hagrid sniffed sadly but continued, “He came inside, an’ 𑁋 an’ 𑁋 ” Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

“Sorry,” he said. “But it’s that sad 𑁋 knew yer mum an’ dad, an’ they were probably some of the kindest, good-hearted people you will ever meet 𑁋 anyway…

“You-Know-Who killed ‘em. An’ then 𑁋 an’ this is the real myst’ry of the thing 𑁋 he tried to kill you, everyone knows exactly why it’s because of yer powers.” Hagrid declared

“What powers? I don’t have any powers.” Elaina shook her head furtively.

“Oh, yes you do.” Hagrid insisted, “I was there when yer aunt gave ‘em to you at yer christening. I wouldn’t expect you ter remember, you were very small.” Elaina knew Hagrid was smiling at the memory from the way his beard hair moved upwards

“What kind of powers?” 

“That the thing 𑁋 nobody knows. We won’t know until you figure it out.” At the Elaina only nodded.

“Getting back to the story, ‘course, You-Know-Who couldn’t kill you. You managed to make out without a single scratch on yeh. He took care of yer mum, an’ dad, even a piece of the castle 𑁋 but it didn’t work on you, an’ that’s why yer famous, Elaina. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill ‘em, no one except fer you and Harry Potter, ‘o course. So you see, Elaina, you’re not just the Princess of Gryffindor, you’re the girl who lived. _The princess who survived_.”

A flash of green blinked in her head like the ones she’d seen in her dreams, but this time it was clear and she heard a cold, hollow chuckling with it. That relieving feeling had long washed away and was now replaced by regret and guilt. _Survivor's guilt._ Elaina thought. At this point, she’d wished that Hagrid had left out the part with You-Know-Who killing her parents and almost killing her if he’d had his way. She thought back to a mere few minutes ago when she was still in the dark. She longed for that feeling of not knowing the truth for Hagrid had taken her mask of ignorance and ran off with it. And there was no way she could get it back.

Hagrid watched her sadly. “Yer aunt and I came and took you out of the wreckage. Yer aunt kept you fer a few years, but then she 𑁋 she brought you here because she knew some of You-Know-Who’s supports were going come and kill the both of you. That’s how you ended up with this lot.” 

“Load of old tosh.” barked Mrs Harrison. Elaina jumped, again. She’d completely forgotten that Mrs Harrison was still here. She was even more snappy than before. Her face was now red and Elaina was sure she saw smoke coming out of her ears.

“Now, you listen here,” She snarled, “I accept there’s something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn’t have cured 𑁋 and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world’s better off without them in my opinion 𑁋 asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types 𑁋 just what I expected, always knew people like them come to a sticky end 𑁋 ”

At that moment, Elaina could’ve pounced on her and punched her just like she did with Harper. Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Mrs Harrison like a sword, he said, “I’m warning you, ma’am 𑁋 I’m warning you 𑁋 one more word.”

In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Mrs Harrison’s attitude washed away; she flattened herself against the wall once again and fell silent. “That’s better,” said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the cot, which now looked like it would snap in half.

“But, Hagrid, whatever happened to Vol-, sorry 𑁋 I mean, You-Know-Who.”

“Good question. After little Harry Potter finished him off, he disappeared. Vanished. The same night he killed the Potter’s. It makes you both even more famous. That’s the biggest myst’ry, see...he was gettin’ more an’ more powerful 𑁋 why’d he go?” As Hagrid spoke, Elaina also began to wonder about the Potter’s. More specifically their son, Harry. Would he be going to Hogwarts with her?

“Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin’ his time, like, but I don’ believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of ‘em came outta kinda trances. Don’ reckon they could’ve done if he was comin’ back.

He continued, “Most of us reckon he’s still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. ‘Cause somethin’ about you stumped him, Elaina. There was somethin’ goin’ on that night he hadn’t counted on 𑁋 _I_ dunno what it was, no one does 𑁋 but he just couldn’t seem to get past somethin’ ‘bout you.”

Hagrid looked at Elaina with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Elaina felt different. Now, whether it was a good or bad different, she didn’t know. A witch? She couldn’t have been a wizard, no. There was no way. She had spent her entire life being bullied and pushed around by Harper and humiliated by Miss Harrison. She has some power that she never even knew about. And then to top all of that off, she was a princess. Elaina knows most people would probably be ecstatic about this, but she felt overwhelmed with all of this new-found information at once. 

“Hagrid, I think you have the wrong person. I couldn’t possibly be a witch, let alone a princess.” Elaina said, mumbling the last part. 

To her surprise, Hagrid chuckled, “Not a witch, eh? Ever made things happen when you were angry or scared?” 

Elaina’s eyes widened. She didn’t even need to think long and hard about it. Paranormal things always seemed to happen whenever she was angry and upset, and she was angry a lot. Just last week, a few weeks earlier, she had managed to push Harper into a lake without touching her, she had made a book fall _without touching it._ Once, she had fallen asleep in her attic and woke up outside near the pond. Elaina looked back at Hagrid, a grin showing up on her face showing off her slightly crooked front teeth. Hagrid was positively beaming at her.

“See?” said Hagrid. “Elaina Adley, not a witch 𑁋 you wait, you’ll be famous at Hogwarts.” 

But Mrs Harrison wasn't going to give in without a fight. “Haven’t I told you she’s not going?” She hissed. “She is to go to a _regular_ secondary school with _regular_ students and teachers.” Mrs Harrison said sharply and put extra emphasis on the word regular.

“If she wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won’t stop him,” growled Hagrid. “Stop Matilda an’ Archibald Adley’s daughter goin’ ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. Her name’s been down since she was born. She’s off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and she won’t even know himself. She’ll be with youngsters of her own sort, a fer change, an’ she’ll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbledore 𑁋 ”

“I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!” yelled Mrs Harrison.

She had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, “NEVER 𑁋 ” he thundered, “ 𑁋 INSULT 𑁋 ALBUS 𑁋 DUMBLEDORE 𑁋 IN 𑁋 FRONT 𑁋 OF 𑁋 ME!”

He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air, to point it at Mrs Harrison. At the same time that the attic door opened and Harper poked her head up into the room. A flash of light purple light burst from Hagrid’s umbrella, just narrowly missing Mrs Harris. Instead, it bounced off of the wall and hit Harper square in the face. Her nose transformed into a large, pink pig snout (Which did not match because her skin was turning bright red). She and Mrs Harrison screamed and rushed out of the attic to try to get rid of the snout. Elaina had tried her hardest to hold back her laughter, but it was no use. She was doubling over on the floor. Hagrid behind her beaming that he’d finally gotten to do that.

Once Elaina’s laughter had finally calmed down, Hagrid cleared his throat and said ruefully, “Shouldn’ta lost me temper, but it didn’t work anyway. Meant ter turn her into a pig, but I suppose she was so much like a pig anyway there wasn’t much-left ter do.” 

He cast a sideways glance at Elaina, who was still giggling a little, under his bushy eyebrows.

“Be grateful if yeh didn’t mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts,” he said. “I’m 𑁋 er 𑁋 not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin’. I was allowed ter do it a bit ter follow yeh an’ get yer letters to yeh an’ stuff 𑁋 one o’ the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job 𑁋”

“Why aren’t you allowed to do Magic?” Elaina asked at this point, she had felt like she had asked way too many questions.

“Oh well 𑁋 I was at Hogwarts meself but I 𑁋 er 𑁋 got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an’ everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore.”

Elaina opened her mouth, but then allowed it to close. She wanted nothing more right now than to ask why he had been expelled, but she knew that would be going a step too far. She decided that she would keep it to herself and ask about it later. 

“It’s gettin’ late and we’ve got lots ter do tomorrow,” said Hagrid. Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an’ that.” 

Elaina nodded and Hagrid picked up his motorcycle. Hagrid got onto it and patted the car on the side, gesturing for the girl to come and get inside. “You comin’?” he asked

Elaina rushed to the cart and buckled herself in. The half-giant started it and they rode off into the breezy night. And for the first time, Elaina felt like her life was looking up

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Neither J.K Rowling nor Warner Bros. have anything to do with this work.


End file.
